Friday, June 7, 2013

Years
ago I read an article in which the author opined that the spiritual
life was often thought of as the charge of proud knights on stallions
into battle, the glint of sunshine and the reflection of bravado on the
polished swords. Rather, he concluded,
it is more like the halting walk of two alcoholics trying mightily to
keep themselves sober throughout life. In both descriptions there is
one point shared: it is not something we can tackle alone. No, the
wisdom of Jesus is that He founded a Church and did not merely convey a
philosophy of life. In his homily yesterday, Deacon David Hall recalled
the popular notion that spirituality can be disconnected from
religiosity: “I don’t need a church; I have Jesus.” However, among the
very first things that Jesus did when starting His public ministry was
to surround Himself with others. Every gospel writer considered that
fact so important that the call of the apostles is described near the
beginning of all four gospels.

Yesterday the Church
celebrated the Feast of the Holy Trinity. This mystery itself is a
compelling reminder that God Himself, in whose image we are created, is
not an isolated singularity but a community of persons in relationship.
The normal Christian life is also lived in relationship, not isolated,
not alone. Perhaps the writer was correct: the spiritual life is an
effort shared by sinners to receive the grace of God and help each other
in recovery. Did you ever notice that at the beginning of every
Catholic Mass we acknowledge our sins? It’s as though I’m at a
Twelve-Step meeting and stand up to say, “Hi, I’m Bill and I’m a
sinner.” I look around and see that I’m not alone and I can find
strength in the shared grace that allows us not to be consumed by our
sins. Father, Son, and Spirit smile in seeing us together as they are.
Smile if you’re a sinner too: we are Church precisely to help each
other!